Pirates readying for playoff run

Jordan Etheridge, right, and the Strait Pirates will face off against the Antigonish AA Munro Bulldogs or Junior Miners in the opening round of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League (NSJHL) playoffs. FILE

PORT HAWKESBURY - The Strait Pirates are focused on smooth sailing through the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League (NSJHL) playoffs.

The defending Sid Rowe Division champions, who only dropped two regular season games last year, finished third in 2020.

“We started pretty good,” second-year head coach Taylor Lambke said, noting a 6-3 victory over the Liverpool Privateers to ring in the new year.

He added there were “high expectations” for the Pirates, who were in a three-way race with the Antigonish AA Munro Bulldogs and Junior Miners for top spot in the division.

“We got away from what makes us successful,” Lambke said of a five or six-game stretch in late January and early February that plunged them out of the battle for first place.

He added the Pirates “were not moving the puck well,” while committing too many turnovers.

Solidly slotted into third spot heading down the home stretch, he added the Pirates have been concentrating on getting back to what they were doing when they were playing “our best hockey.”

“We came out of our zone as a five-man unit and moved the puck well through the neutral zone,” Lambke explained.

Noting they have “not been defending well enough” for most of the second half, he said they will have to focus on “defense first” in the post-season.

“When we do that, we will get our chances (to score),” Lambke added.

As of press time, the Pirates’ first-round opponent had not been determined; the options are the rival Bulldogs or the Miners.

“You have to control their top line – it is one of the best in the league,” Lambke said of the overage trio of Daniel Reid, Mitchell Johnston and Dylan Morley, if the opponent is the Miners.

He added “we will have to defend our zone.”

“I think we match up really well with them,” Lambke noted.

When it comes to the Bulldogs, he praised their four-line depth, which includes plenty of grit in their bottom six forwards.

“We will have to match their intensity,” Lambke offered.

Describing the potential clash as a “chess match,” he said one of the keys, for both sides, would be putting pressure on the defense.

With players returning to the lineup from suspension and veteran Bryce Reynolds coming back from a lower-body injury, Lambke expects a full lineup for the start of the playoffs.

“I think we will be a little bit looser,” he said, when asked about their circumstance heading into the post-season compared to last season.

Lambke agreed, with only two regular season losses, the Pirates had a target on their backs.